From the cross-border airstrike in Pakistan's Balakot to the National Register of Citizens (NRC), the pandals in West Bengal have come up with myriad themes for the annual religious observance of Durga Puja.
Large number of pandal-hoppers descended on the city from the suburbs, rest of India and from across the globe to witness the festivities.
Here a look at the pandals you must visit in the city of joy.
The Young Boys Club Sarbojanin Durga Puja Committee based in central Kolkata's is celebrating its golden jubilee this year by simulating scenes from the Balakot air strike, in which the Indian Air Force jets bombed and destroyed a terror training camp in Pakistan. The organisers have positioned 65 models of Indian Air Force personnel and terrorists near the entrance as a model of an IAF aircraft hovered over. There was also a life-size model of of IAF pilot Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman, who had shot down an F-16 fighter jet of the Pakistan Air Force.
Against the backdrop of panic over a possible future NRC exercise gripping the state, the Rajdanga Naba Uday Sangha puja is drawing a huge crowd by envisioning its marquee around the theme of "refugee". Shuttlecocks, standing for refugees, and badminton rackets - representing two countries - have been slotted in front of the marquee, to delineate the message of two countries lobbing the refugees to each other's side.
The famed Tridhara Sammilani of South Kolkata has chosen to drive home some "green lessons" to the public by making its premises plastic free. The puja organsiers say they work with the Kolkata Municpal Corporation for waste management, and sdhere to all green norms.
The Durga Puja pandal of Chetla Agrani Club in Kolkata has been decorated with 4,000 old letter boxes along with old typewriters, lanterns, phones, radios, gramophone and clocks." "This year's theme is based on a line (Kolikata Cholichhe Norite Norite) from a poem by Rabindranath Tagore. We have used the letter boxes as these were integral part of Kolkata's history," said organiser Srinjay Chatterjee.
The spaceship-themed Kumartuli Park puja and at Santosh Mitra Square in the central part of the city showcases a 50-kg gold Durga idol.
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